Save Our Early Learning Center at Everett Community College
Governor Jay Inslee, Ross Hunter, DCYF Secretary, Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive, State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
Our Early Learning Center is suddenly being threatened to be contracted out & converted to a day care center. Our community of educators, workers, parents, and community have been left out of the process. We must stand together & demand respect & preservation of our Early Learning center that is improving families lives & our community.
Petition by
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To:
Governor Jay Inslee, Ross Hunter, DCYF Secretary, Dave Somers, Snohomish County Executive, State Board for Community & Technical Colleges
From:
[Your Name]
Our Early Learning Center is suddenly being sacrificed for a limited service day care center. This stops the many educational & support services being provided to our children and parents living below the poverty level. Right now at the Early Learning Center (ELC) we are breaking the systemic barriers to a better life for our families of Snohomish County and cannot afford to take a step back as we have more people than ever struggling because of the pandemic. ELC provides for our community:
● Free Early ECEAP program birth-3 year olds with DCYF grant for families under 200% of federal Poverty line & 1 of 10 top quality sites in Washington state
● Free ECEAP Pre-school for 3-5 year olds & family support services for poor families with additional risk factors
● Increases access to post-secondary education for low-income parents with grants & Child Care (CCAMPIS & NAEYC Accredited)
● Family Support Services with Mobile Mentoring to achieve goals despite challenges of poverty
● Trauma Informed Leadership teams with the Snohomish County CARE (Compassion, Appreciation, Resilience, Empowerment) Community
● High Quality preschool services that include individualized curriculum, developmental screenings, quarterly TSG ongoing assessments to track children’s development and parent teacher conferences, nutrition education, literacy preparation, STEAM based hands on exploration using ECHOs curriculum, Zeno Math, Social Emotional support using Second Step curriculum, and violence prevention education using CPU (Child Protection Unit) curriculum.
● The ELC partners with multiple campus academic programs to provide required practicum hours and academic experiences for students. These academic programs are in jeopardy should the ELC be replaced with a limited services daycare center.
● Lead teaching staff all have Bachelor’s degrees or higher and with the exception of the new lead for our brand-new infant classroom, all have been retained 5 years or longer, and some have 15 years plus seniority.
Together we are breaking down intergenerational poverty cycle with multi-tiered services to our families to help parents attain post-secondary education while priming their children with enough quality education to reach even higher.
We demand actions to halt the sacrifice of our Early Learning Center immediately. We need full transparency & stakeholder input process for our entire Snohomish County Community to make an informed decision on the future of our families & Early Learning Center.